NOW ON VIEW: Asian & Pacific Islander Adoptees: A Journey through Identity at the Wing Luke Asian Museum

Sat Jan 15 17:40:19 PST 2005

News Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Joann Natalia Aquino, Public Relations Manager
(206) 623-5124 ext. 106, jaquino at wingluke.org

MAJOR EXHIBITION

Asian & Pacific Islander Adoptees: A Journey through Identity
Opens January 7, 2005 through September 4, 2005

While many adoption trends are tied to specific historic events, such as war and
poverty, Americans adopting children from Asia has grown in demand. As thousands
of children and babies enter into the United States each year from Asia, many
prospective parents face challenges in raising a child of another ethnicity from
their own, as well as the general questions of identity adoptees acquire through
adolescence. The adoption experience is complex and very personal.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum is proud to present its current major exhibition,
Asian & Pacific Islander Adoptees:  A Journey through Identity.  This
extraordinary exhibition captures the brave journey adoptees make in pursuit of
self-identity.  This intimate exhibition is a unique melding of history,
personal testimony, culture, and art from adoptees, adoptive parents, family
members, and those involved in the adoption process.

Educational, provocative and inspiring, Asian & Pacific Islander Adoptees:  A
Journey through Identity is an exhibition for all ages.

This exhibit would not be possible without the support of the following:  Prime
Sponsor:  Comcast Cable Communications Inc.   Additional funding provided by:
Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Ford Foundation, PONCHO, Families with Children
from China-Seattle Chapter, Vietnamese Adoptee Network, and World Association
for Children and Parents.   Community Partners:  Asian Adult Adoptees of
Washington, Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network, Mavin Foundation,
Vietnamese Adoptee Network, and World Association for Children and Parents.

All exhibitions at the Wing Luke Asian Museum are based on first-hand interviews
with community members who are the history-makers themselves, honoring and
reflecting the insight and experience of our elders, youth, and active
participants of the multigenerational Asian Pacific American community.  Our
permanent exhibitions include One Song, Many Voices: The Asian Pacific American
Experience, Camp Harmony D-4-44, and International District: Portrait of a
Community.  Our centerpiece exhibition, One Song, Many Voices: The Asian Pacific
American Experience, depicts the 200-year story of the immigration and
settlement of Asians and Pacific Islanders in Washington State, from the first
Hawaiian settlers to more recent refugees from Southeast Asia. This exhibition
includes 10 Asian Pacific American groups - Cambodians, Chinese, Filipinos,
Japanese, Koreans, Laotians, Pacific Islanders, South Asians, Southeast Asian
hill tribes and Vietnamese. The exhibition is the only one of its kind in the
nation to integrate their many different experiences into a cohesive story of
courage, determination and success.  Camp Harmony D-4-44 is a permanent
exhibition featuring a replica of a portion of the assembly center in Puyallup,
Washington where thousands of Seattle's American-born Japanese were incarcerated
without justification during World War II. The Installation incorporates sound
dramatizations of the desperate hours before families were forced to abandon
their homes. The International District: Portrait of a Community is an outdoor
exhibition introducing visitors to the International District neighborhood,
capturing the history of the area from its origins in the early 1900s to the
present-day.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum is located at the heart of Seattle's historic
Chinatown/ International District at 407-7th Avenue South.  Founded in 1967, the
Museum has a regional and national significance, and celebrates its namesake of
the first Asian American elected to public office in the Pacific Northwest, Wing
Luke.  The Wing Luke Asian Museum- an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution,
the 1995 recipient of the National Award for Museum Service, and the 2004
recipient of the City of Seattle Distinguished Human Rights Award- is dedicated
to engaging the public in exploring issues related to the culture, art and
history of Asian Pacific Americans.

A museum like no other- The Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle, Washington is the
only pan-Asian Pacific American museum in the country.  It is nationally
recognized for its award-winning exhibitions and community-based model of
exhibition and program development.  The Museum has embarked upon a remarkable
journey to transform a building and a community by raising $24.7 million to
rehabilitate the Kong Yick Building as its new permanent home in the heart of
Seattle's Chinatown-International District.

GENERAL MUSEUM INFORMATION:

Museum Hours:  Tuesday-Friday         11:00 am - 4:30 pm
Saturday-Sunday        12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
CLOSED Mondays and Holidays

General Admission:
Adults                 $ 4.00 per person
Students/ Seniors      $ 3.00
Children               $ 2.00
Children under 5 years old  FREE
FREE every First Thursday of the month to all.

For scheduling School Tours and Group Tours, please contact Laura Shapiro, Tour
& Volunteer Coordinator, at lshapiro at wingluke.org or call (206) 623-5124 ext.
116.

For more information about the Wing Luke Asian Museum and our award-winning
exhibitions and program development, contact Joann Natalia Aquino, Public
Relations Manager, at jaquino at wingluke.org or call (206) 623-5124 ext. 106 or
visit us online at www.wingluke.org.

**********************************
Joann Natalia Aquino
Public Relations Manager
Wing Luke Asian Museum
407-7th Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98104
phone: 206.623.5124 ext. 106
fax: 206.652.4963
www.wingluke.org
e-mail: jaquino at wingluke.org
joannnatalia_aquino at publicist.com

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Joann Natalia G. Aquino
Graduate Student, Department of Communication
University of Washington
E-mail: jnaquino at u.washington.edu, herstory at joannnataliaaquino.com

"Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and
social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest
must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation, and
publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and
persecuted ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences." -S.B. Anthony